Goldman Sachs reported a sharp third-quarter earnings beat on Tuesday, giving investors a fresh reason to revisit a stock that has fallen about 15% over the past three months despite strong underlying results.
The Wall Street bank earned $17.01 per share on $18.68 billion of net revenue, comfortably above FactSet expectations for GAAP earnings of $12.86 per share and revenue of $16.83 billion.
Net profit rose 29% from a year earlier to $5.29 billion, while revenue increased 23%. Goldman Sachs shares rose about 1.6% to around $908 in Tuesday’s premarket trading following the results.
The numbers put the focus on whether Goldman’s trading strength can arrest the stock’s recent slide. Shares closed Monday at $893.95 after losing ground as rising Treasury yields and concerns over the durability of capital-markets activity weighed on bank valuations.
The stock had also fallen roughly 23% from its 52-week high, leaving expectations considerably lower than during the summer rally.
Goldman Sachs earnings: Equities trading drives the beat
Goldman’s equities franchise was the standout performer. Revenue jumped 72% from a year earlier to $6.44 billion, driven by sharply higher prime financing, portfolio financing and derivatives activity.
That strength helped Global Banking & Markets revenue rise 32% to $13.46 billion, even as fixed-income, currencies and commodities revenue was essentially flat year on year at $3.47 billion.
The split broadly matched the direction flagged by chief executive David Solomon in September, when he said equities remained very strong while FICC had softened.
Morningstar banking analyst Sean Dunlop told Reuters at the time that the commentary was not particularly surprising because his team had modelled an 11% sequential decline in FICC revenue. He added that “slightly softer” could actually prove more constructive than Morningstar’s outlook.
The result was stronger than that cautious setup in equities, although FICC still fell 24% from the exceptional second quarter.
Goldman Sachs Q3 results: Deal fees rise, backlog slips
Investment banking fees increased 21% year on year to $3.22 billion, supported by stronger advisory, equity underwriting and debt underwriting revenue.
Advisory revenue reached $1.65 billion as completed merger volumes improved, while equity underwriting benefited from initial public offerings and secondary share sales. Debt underwriting also rose on stronger investment-grade activity.
However, there was a less bullish signal beneath those numbers. Goldman’s investment banking fee backlog declined from the end of the second quarter and was slightly below its level at the end of 2025.
That matters because investors are trying to judge whether the recent rise in Treasury yields will delay deals and weaken the next leg of Wall Street’s capital-markets recovery.
UBS analyst Erika Najarian said in a note before earnings that investors needed reassurance that capital-markets pipelines remained robust.
Goldman Sachs stock: Costs rise, profitability stays strong
Goldman’s operating expenses climbed 20% from a year earlier to $11.31 billion, reflecting higher transaction-based expenses and compensation costs. That increase was substantial, but expenses were still 3% lower than in the second quarter.
Return on common equity reached 18.7%, up sharply from 14.2% a year earlier, while book value per share increased to $372.64.
Asset and Wealth Management provided another source of growth, with revenue rising 14% to $5.05 billion. Management and other fees reached $3.59 billion as higher assets under supervision lifted recurring revenue.
Goldman also returned $4.49 billion to common shareholders during the quarter, including $3 billion of share repurchases and $1.49 billion of dividends. The board declared a $5 quarterly dividend.
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